Smell and the Past: Noses, Archives and Narratives by William Tullett

December 31, 2023 marks the end of Odeuropa's research grant, which is focused on olfactory heritage. The scope of their work and what they're delivering for public consumption is a priceless foundation for future scholarship on tangible and intangible olfactory heritage. 

Dr. William Tullett is in charge of developing the Encyclopaedia of European Olfactory Heritage – a new web-resource that will be the first of its kind – that will catalogue and describe the smells, odorous spaces, feelings about scent, and key noses of the European past. 

This is one of many Odeuropa initiatives informed by their mission; there's also a book.

Smell and the Past: Noses, Archives and Narratives by Dr. William Tullett is available as a free download on the publisher’s website. It’s informed by his work on the Odeuropa project. [Tullett, W. (2023). Smell and the Past: Noses, Archives, Narratives. London,: Bloomsbury Academic. https://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350371811.] 

Notes:

Odeuropa’s latest newsletter is chock full of nose-worthy news. Get your nose in the late summer/early autumn edition here.

Odeuropa was awarded €2.8M from the EU Horizon 2020 programme for the project, “ODEUROPA: Negotiating Olfactory and Sensory Experiences in Cultural Heritage Practice and Research”.

Smell Edition: | Issue 32 of Garland Magazine (2023 Sensorium Series)

Craft offers a lingua franca between cultures. It sits outside the developmental narrative, which is mostly about catching up with the West. There is much to learn about the value of the object in different cultures as a way of sustaining meaning across time and space. Embedded in the object is the deep time necessary to master techniques for giving expression to the language of materials. As the object travels from the workshop to the gallery and home, it nurtures the source of this creativity with the respect and honour that sustains it. —Garland magazine.

I discovered the "Smell" edition of Garland magazine after reading Sigrid van Roode's September newsletter. Roode, a jewelry historian and government archeology consultant, specializes in ornament (her latest book is Silver and Frankincense, Personal Adornment and Scent in the Arab World). 

If you think academic-driven books and newsletters are boring, think again. You won't find lexical jargonese in Roode's work or in the pages of Garland, which has an authentic voice and mission that's arts, culture and craft-driven. (BTW: Roode is currently pursuing a PhD at Leiden University.)

Fans of NEZ: The Olfactory Magazine will relish the "Smell" edition of Garland, but it's not because Garland magazine is like NEZ. Garland is what NEZ could be on occasion if it wasn't shadowed by fragrance industry support and dusted in advertorial-style fingerprints. 

Fragrance is a craft. Olfactory cultural heritage inclusive of non-Western scent traditions deserves attention—especially those that have been ignored, usurped or escaped commodification. We need to look into other traditions for a more balanced perspective.

Notes:

Garland magazine produces an annual compendium. Each compendium is named after a flower found in a garland. The 2023 "Rose" compendium will be available next year and include 2023's taste, smell, hearing and touch issues. Quarterly subscription information is available here.

Smell & Tell Event | AI, Machine Learning and Smells!

Spock smells "the spores" and sees the future.

Smell & Tell | AI, Machine Learning and Smells! 

Date: Wednesday, September 20, 2023 

Time: 5:30PM-7:30PM 

Location: Ann Arbor District Library (Downtown) 

Address: 343 S 5th Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 

Phone: 734-327-4200

You really need to think like a Vulcan when it comes to prognostication and AI. The future is unknown and as such is subject to fantasy, ideology and cow pies. This is especially true of the intersection of smell, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. 

Machines that analyze smells aren't new. The pairing of Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) was demonstrated in 1955-56 by Dow scientists in Midland, Michigan. The technology, which is used to analyze individual components of complex mixtures in analytical chemistry labs, continues to evolve. 

We'll explore eclectic smell terrain and collectively follow our nose to get a better understanding of how humans evaluate smells against the capacity of machines that analyze complex mixtures and their components. 

The Smell and Tell series of art+science programming is led by Michelle Krell Kydd, a trained nose in flavors and fragrance who shares her passion for gastronomy, sensory evaluation and the perfume arts on Glass Petal Smoke. Smell & Tell builds community through interactions with flavor, fragrance and storytelling. 

Notes:

Nose-forward reading for this Smell & Tell program:

More than meets the AI: The possibilities and limits of machine learning in olfaction by Ann Sophie Barwich and Elizabeth A. Lloyd (2022)

Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry via Dow, Inc. and the American Chemical Society.

Smell & Tell Event | Inside the Olfactory Mind of Steffen Arctander

Mark your calendars! Steffen Arctander is
the focus of an upcoming Smell & Tell 
at the Ann Arbor District Library.

Inside the Olfactory Mind of Steffen Arctander 

Date: Wednesday, October 18, 2023 

Time: 5:30PM -7:30PM 

Location: Ann Arbor District Library (Downtown) 

Address: 343 S 5th Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 

Phone: 734-327-4200

Steffen Arctander was a renowned chemist, perfumer and flavorist. He is best known for authoring Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin (1960). The encyclopedic book contains more than 500 monographs on natural materials inclusive of aromatic descriptions and classifications to help the user evaluate sensory impressions. 

Arctander’s legacy reaches beyond the pages of his book. He participated in the Danish Resistance when he was a student and worked for British Intelligence during WWII, narrowly escaping capture by the Gestapo. Steffen Arctander appeared on To Tell The Truth in 1964, a gutsy and taboo move for someone in a famously secretive industry.  

The fragrance flight for this program includes novel natural materials. We’ll use Arctander’s descriptors for guidance after blind smelling each one to get a better understanding of ourselves, and Arctander’s enduring legacy as the author of a magnificent “dictionary of smells”. 

The Smell and Tell series of art+science programming is led by Michelle Krell Kydd, a trained nose in flavors and fragrance who shares her passion for gastronomy, sensory evaluation and the perfume arts on Glass Petal Smoke. Smell & Tell builds community through interactions with flavor, fragrance and storytelling. 

Notes:

Locating the footage from To Tell The Truth featuring Steffen Arctander was complicated by the fact that his name is misspelled in the YouTube video as "Contestant #3: Stefan Octander (Perfume expert)". Google search started directing traffic to Arctander's television appearance after I posted a story about it on February 17, 2021.  The transcription on YouTube was worth correcting for posterity. I provided a proper transcription in the article. 

The image that accompanies this post is Spring Garden by Omoda Seiju (1917).